Crowdfunding is probably something we need to …

Every once in a while I see petitions that try to convince a game developer to port their game to Linux. I think these are somewhat ineffective for the following reasons:

Number of people who sign a petition is not a precise indicator of future sales.

Amount of time needed to create the actual port may dwindle the potential buyer base (those who signed the petition).

Puts the financial risk entirely in the hands of the developer.

I propose that instead of petitioning developers for Linux ports, we petition them for crowdfunding campaigns for ports. This has the following benefits:

Almost zero up-front financial investment for the developer; a crowdfunding campaign costs next-to-nothing to set up.

Developer sets their financial expectations in the crowdfunding campaign such that it is worth their time to create a Linux port.

There is zero financial risk for the developer, the project is fully funded, or it’s not.

With as niche a gaming market segment as we are (and let’s face it, we’re tiny), I think it would be a wise decision to take on the burden of collectively funding the port instead of asking the developers to take a risk on a small slice of the pie.